The Ascension Of Darth Rasmus
by Zylon2016
Summary: This is a re-imagined prologue and re-telling of the dark side story for Jedi Knight Jedi Academy a video game from the early 2000's taking place 10 years after episode 6. Now I do have a brief summary in the story but to get the most out of this i recommend either playing it or reading a summary online of the game. But I hope you enjoy it all the same.
1. Chapter 1 The Awakened

**The Ascension of Darth Rasmus**

A Jaden Korr Continuation Story

By: Matthew V. Willms

Preface

In order to have a better understanding of the events that follow you need to know several things about some of the characters mentioned the writings ahead.

Kyle Katarn is a smuggler turned Jedi in order to save the Jedi Academy on Yavin from being taken over by some Sith fanatics. Tavion the apprentice of the leader of the fanatics Desann who was killed by Katarn in order to stop the take over, and last but not least Katarn also spared Tavions life after their first but certainly not last meeting on a planet called Bespin, ever since she has been out to exact her revenge not only on Katarn but the entirety of the Jedi order itself for being weak and superstitious old hermits following magic and fairy tales, as her master before her believed.

Thank you and please enjoy;

The Ascension of Darth Rasmus By: Matthew V. Willms

Chapter 1

Awakened

Jaden Korr was raised on the planet of Minum in a small human colony that was set aside by the dominant species on the planet for outsiders. He was born to a father and mother who, when he was only six perished when a group of greedy imperials razed his small village to the ground. As he grew older his hatred towards the Empire grew and grew and grew throughout his young life, at the age of eighteen he joined a small rebel group that would plan guerrilla style attacks on different groups of the empire, that they came into contact with. Also a part of this group was a young Twi'lek female by the name of Jai'ir Shandow and as he stuck with the group more and more, Jai'ir and Jaden became very close not lovers, but very nearly that, they would flirt, joke and tease each other constantly, so much so the others in their group began placing bets with one another on when the two would finally agree to a bonding together, she was Jaden's best and closest friend in many years. Some of the other members of the group included a Rodian by the name of Gurlan Tak, a human by the name of Dax Jester and a Zabrak male by the name of Sou, and each had their roles, Gurlan was the thief, Dax was the scoundral and Sou was an old warrior whose focus was melee weapons. Together they called themselves The Eagles and they had quite the bounty on them if all five of them were caught. So they would constantly be fighting off bounty hunters or slavers that were after the enormous bounty the Empire had placed on their heads.

Growing up on the streets of numerous planetary systems he heard tales of Jedi Knights and how they used to protect the galaxy, he never dreamed that one day he would actually meet one. Until he met Jedi Master Jun Ur a Kel Dorian Jedi master with a strong talent with saber combat Jun Ur joined the small band of rebels and led them on several missions that ended in victory, however one day as they were attacking a small galactic outpost on Dantoine the once great site of an ancient Jedi training academy, Master Jun Ur fell to a sneak attack from a dark Jedi that had been in hiding for many, many years. With the help of his friends Jaden managed to defeat the dark Jedi simply do to his old age and not being as quick as he once was once the fight was over Jaden went to the fallen Jedi master and as his final request Jun Ur entrusted Jaden with his light saber saying only that the force was only just stirring in young Jaden and it had a vast future planned for him, and as his final request ended Jun Ur told Jaden to head to Yavin 4 where Grand master Skywalker would be able to train him in the ways of the force. As he lay Jun Ur to rest on a pyre in the fields of Dantoine, Jai'ir came and stood beside him simply comforting Jaden as much as she could, because she knew that Jaden deeply admired Jun Ur because of the travesty he had to go through the night his parents were murdered and his life changed forever, ever since Jaden had longed to gain enough influence or somehow gain some sort of recognition for even a fraction of the good deeds he tries to preform, however he has always been worried he could never do enough to gain that recognition and Jun Ur had ignited in him a fire that would not be clenched until he did something to help this galaxy he loved so much and save it from the Empires grasp. Jai'ir knew this and needed to confront him about this upcoming choice he faced. As the fire blazed and Jun Ur's body became one with the force, Jai'ir slipped her pale red hand into his and nestled her head into his neck, she felt Jaden's arm rest on her shoulder and could hear a sniffle from Jaden and she saw a tear fall to the ground, a deep breath and an exhale as he moved his hand to brush the wetness from his face, he turned his head to look at her sparkling green eyes and embraced her tightly. After a few long moments that Jai'ir wished would never end Jaden pulled away and looked into her eyes, took a breath and began to speak.

"Jai'ir, I think I need to go to Yavin and fulfil master Ur's request and become a Jedi, would you come with me to the space port tomorrow? You don't have to come with me to Yavin but I need to go. It's a calling I need to answer." Jaden said nervousness in his voice, and Jai'ir knew why, he must be worried she would get upset at him and never speak to him again, but if only he knew that not speaking to him ever again was the one thing she could never do, she loved him to much to let a thing like the joining of a new order halfway across the galaxy, come between them.

"Jaden of course I'll go with you tomorrow, if you asked I would join the Jedi with you, anything you need to do I want to be there for you to support you doesn't matter what it is, as long as I am with you and… us never dies." Jai'ir said with a sweet smile and placed her nimble fingers around his face and brushed it gently. Jaden closed his eyes and a smile came across his face, he knew that she cared for him but not this much.

"Are you sure Jai'ir, because I don't want to get in the way of your career with the Eagles, the last thing I could do was take you away from all this. I thought you liked this life. I don't want to force another onto you because of a calling I feel." Jaden said in response.

"I just don't want you to feel obligated to…." Jaden was stopped mid sentence because Jai'ir had pulled him close and was in the midst of giving him a passionate, long and meaningful kiss. At first Jaden was surprised and then, as he understood what was happening he closed his eyes and kissed her back. From somewhere in the darkness figures cheered and clapped, it was the rest of the Eagles, their faces dimly lit by the blaze of the fire, all were clapping, smiling and laughing as they traded the credits to whomever won the bet they had made on a previous day.

Jaden and Jai'ir separated yet the enormous grin that had come across Jaden's face never left its owner. He was happy for the first time in a long time and he pulled Jai'ir into another long embrace nearly crying tears of happiness for this moment. The two looked at one another, Jai'ir was blushing but smiling and Jaden was simply ecstatic.

"You talk to much sometimes Jaden. It was the only way to shut you up" Jai'ir said happily and laughed.

"So you'll come with me?" Jaden asked simply to clarify what had just happened to him by that funeral pyre on that calm night on Dantoine.

"I'd follow you to the ends of the galaxy and beyond Jaden, I love you." Jai'ir said if only to get it through his head.

"I love you too Jai'ir." As the whole of the Eagles Company began dancing and singing tunes from their childhood, a spark drifted up into the night sky disappearing from existence just below the moon. The moon also happened to be directly in front of a star destroyer's main viewing window where on the bridge the figure of a woman was illuminated solely by the brightness of that same moon, the figure stood silently with her hands folded behind her back. She could hear an officer of the Empire approaching from behind; he clearly had some news she needed to hear in order for the next phase of her grand plan to unfold.

"Mistress Tavion, our troops are ready to begin the assault on Dantoine, shall I give them the go ahead?" The officer asked so politely it almost made Tavion cringe with disgust.

"Yes captain you may give the word, and tell them not to touch the academy till my shuttle arrives everything else… let it burn." She dismissed the officer to his job with a wave of her hand. A sickening grin made its way onto her purple lips and a laugh came from inside her, she knew that this would be the first step onto her path to immortality.

"With the sceptre at my command, the left over force energy in this godforsaken planet will be mine and soon Lord Ragnos will return.

Jaden and Jai'ir and the rest of the Eagles rose to a truly horrible scene, the academy had been desecrated through the night and was still being destroyed they had to do something, they threw their gear on as quickly as they could, rushed for their weapons and headed towards the academy.

As soon as they reached the courtyard of the Academy, they knew that the people behind this were imperials, so together they began getting citizens to safety, shooting storm troopers and other mercenaries that the Empire had employed. As they fought their way through to the heart of the academy Jaden at one point felt his hand move to Master Ur's light saber however he stopped himself and placed his finger back on the trigger. Deep within the Academy Tavion had a long silver and grey sceptre with what looked to be the horns of a deer attached to the end, there was a long and bright red beam streaming from the middle of the sceptre's head to the seat that sat in the direct middle of the circular council chamber the Academy had built to accommodate a small few of the Jedi High Council to oversee the Academy in its day. Home to Ancient masters of the Jedi order and well renowned to be the trainers of Revan before his fall to the Dark Side, Tavion relished in the thought of destroying once and for all such a large symbol of what the Jedi once were, now though they were nothing but hermits believing in magic and fairy tales, that's what Desann had always said, the Jedi are nothing but weak old hermits now with barely enough power to keep them breathing, they are a blight on the galaxy and must be destroyed, every last one. To this day Tavion still held that belief, she was lucky Katarn had shown her some compassion back on Bespin else this whole plan would not be able to manifest itself. Her troops tore the academy apart piece by piece till nothing but the main wall in the council remained the source of the residual force energy. Marka Ragnos' sceptre siphoned the remains and glowed a bright orange with power. A laugh started in the sith empress's throat and a grave look of satisfaction came across her face, she had drained the force energy from the first of many different locations and the journey to the resurrection of Marka Ragnos had begun.

On the opposite end of the academy where Tavions' troops were just entering the Eagles were well into their escape and goal of getting to the spaceport where Jaden and Jai'ir would leave in a separate ship and the rest would return home to Nar Shadda to hire themselves out to a merc group or bounty hunter to make up for their lost treasures here on Dantoine. As they breached the south exit of the Academy they could see the spaceport only a short ways in the distance, however the only thing standing in their way was a Battalion of storm troopers close to fifteen in number that were waiting to take orders from their leader. There was one man patrolling the ranks, the Eagles assumed he was in immediate control of the troops and was waiting for his mistress to give him the order to send in the troops. Each trooper held a standard E-11 repeating blaster, a sidearm and some detonators. The Eagles didn't have much in response a few detonators, custom blasters and a light saber that no one knew how to use. Things looked grim but before someone could give the go ahead, Jaden followed by Jai'ir took off towards the enemy ranks. Jai'ir pulled out her twin J-20 blaster pistols, and Jaden had his Golden Flachette Quad-barrel shotgun ready to unleash. Following their lead the remaining three members of the Eagles armed themselves with their weapons and tore off after them, but not before Dax said.

"Come on Lads best not let the lovebirds kill themselves!" After which they charged into battle.

Jaden's focus narrowed from the general survival of his friends and the galaxy to simply this, get Jai'ir and himself to the ship unharmed, or at the very least a few scratches and scorches, he closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath while loading his shotgun, his blue eyes slowly opened and a slight flash could almost be seen if you were looking Jaden in the eyes. He lowered his head a little and let out an enormous cry, not failing to gain the attention not only of his enemies but also of everyone else around. Jaden raised his falchette squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened. Jaden panicked he had forgot to change his ammo before charging into battle so he would just be using blank cartridges instead of lethal rounds, with enemy troops closing on their location he and Jai'ir had to think, and think fast.

"What's wrong Jaden?" Jai'ir asked and then realizing he hadn't shot his gun. She turned to him quickly trying find a solution to the problem.

"Go Get behind the control panel I'm right behind you!" Jai'ir said, she laid down cover fire as Jaden hopped behind the desk his mind racing. A few seconds later she joined him, they had a temporary cover and only a few precious seconds to come up with a plan.

"I forgot to change my ammo before so I'd just be shooting blank cartridges, I'm trying to think for a minute here but the troopers are closing fast." Then from behind them coming out from the academy the Eagles immerged, blasting as they ran, each trooper fell one by one till only a few were left and the Eagles had re-joined Jaden and Jai'ir, The group was a short ways from the entrance of the landing pad, the only enemies left were an imperial officer and five storm troopers the rest of the attack force had all but disappeared the small group had managed to thin the ranks of the enemy to a healthy five, everyone was low on ammo but would fight till the end. Jaden felt a pull in his mind to the saber hanging from his belt, everything else in his mind was telling him to take it and use it, and it was if he could hear a voice shouting it from the mountains TAKE THE SABER and use it. Knowing he would probably regret this Jaden reached down and unhooked the saber, Jai'ir looked him in the eyes and a look of understanding came across her face and she nodded. That small encouragement from Jai'ir put his mind at ease. Jaden closed his eyes and took a deep breath; in his head he heard a voice calling to him.

"Jaden Korr trust in the force, let it flow through you and victory will be yours, then come to Yavin and all the questions you have will be answered." The voice sounded familiar but he could not place it.

Taking another deep breath Jaden opened his eyes, and his body felt new like something had awakened that had always been there but just in slumber waiting for the precise moment to stir inside him and start him down his destiny. He ignited the saber, it glowed a bright purple and hummed softly but he could feel it in his grip like he was holding a living thing and it was just newly born, so precious but so strong. Jaden hoped over the desk, and stated walking slowly towards the enemy troops, he could see the momentary look of terror come across the officer's face, and then he ordered the troopers to open fire and kill them, but Jaden wasn't alone, Jai'ir Dax, Gurlan and Sou all formed behind him and opened fire as well.

Together the Eagles fought back the troops and the officer clearing their way to the landing pad. Shortly before they rounded the corner onto the pad Jaden felt a great pain come over him it was like being shot with burning acid, the pain came from his chest when he looked down and didn't see anything he thought for a moment. He shut the saber off and hung it at his side again.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Jaden said to his friends as they stepped around the corner.

When they saw the reason for the feeling they all stopped in the midst of their stride, standing between them was a man or at least he looked like a man, he was clothed head to toe in red, orange black and silver, covering his head was a black hood and a black mask that covered his mouth and chin. In his hands he held an extra long saber hilt with what looked like curved hand guards. As they approached a low laugh began coming from the man and as he turned towards them he ignited his dual bladed saber, which glowed with a deep red colour and hummed loudly. It was a dark Jedi and it was all that stood between Jaden and the Eagles and their escape from this imperial attack on Dantoine.

"Ha, ha, ha now false jedi, where do you think you and your little friends are going?" The dark jedi cackled. His voice was high pitched and there was a hiss when he spoke.

"Jai'ir, Dax, Gurlan, Sou. Stay back this isn't your fight." Jaden said stepping between, the Dark Jedi and the Eagles.

"Ha ha ha ha ha, you think your little sacrifice will save them false Jedi, your wrong, once I deal with you I will kill them all, slowly and painfully and make you watch." The Dark Jedi eyed the crew, his eyes lingered a moment on Jai'ir.

"Except the Twi'lek I think I'll give her some, special treatment first and them kill her. Ha ha ha ha." The Dark Jedi cackled again.

"Your vile hands will not touch her, because I will cut them off before you even come close." Jaden said confidently.

"Now, now false Jedi I doubt you even know how to handle that weapon in your hands, prove me wrong and we may find use for you yet." The dark Jedi said as he moved his saber to the ready position of form Vii combat, a saber staff.

From inside him Jaden felt the presence of the force, and he remembered something Jun Ur said to him once. The force flows through every living thing in the galaxy, the grass, and the water the air and the trees, and if you give yourself over to it there is no other force in the entirety of the universe that can oppose you. These words flowed through Jaden's mind as he moved his thumb to the ignition button on the hilt of Master Ur's saber. He took a deep breath, exhaled and then from the hilt a bright purple light suddenly illuminated his face and his eyes opened.

When Jaden's eyes opened it was as if he began to see the world in a new light he could feel the force everywhere he looked, touched or stood he had entered the world of the Force and he was amazed by it. His senses became more attuned to the environment and he knew that from this day forward he had started down a path that very few these days could even dream of. As he lowered the saber he saw the Dark Jedi charging towards him full speed and Jaden only had a few milliseconds to react to the situation. His enemy barrelled down with a wild diagonal swing of his saber-staff, directly towards Jaden's throat, Jaden parried high and blocked it.

"Well done false Jedi that was more then most can do, but you will not be so lucky next time." The dark Jedi taunted.

His enemy swung wildly again this time aiming to slice him in half from head to toe. Jaden parried once more with a high block and then a short horizontal sweep aimed at the dark Jedi's mid-section, his swing was blocked as well, the duel went back and forth between the two for a few minutes, each doing well at blocking and parrying but now it was the dark Jedi's turn to turn the tables he began spinning his staff vertical and then horizontal, it was all Jaden could do but to jump out of the way, however when he did he jumped higher then he had anticipated and he felt the Force lift him into the air and launch him backward. The dark Jedi had called upon the Force to push Jaden backward, throwing his guard off. Jaden had a momentary burst of panic for he had no idea how to call upon the force to do anything but help him focus.

This moment of panic caused him to fall and he was barley able to roll out of the way as his enemy's saber pierced the ground beside his head. Jaden heard an audible scream from a short distance away, it was Jai'ir, Jaden had almost forgot that his friends were watching this whole duel unfold before them, these thoughts renewed his strength and he got up thinking now that he was the only line of defence between this dark force user and the lives of his friends which unless he did something would be cut short long before their times. He tightened his focus and allowed the force to flow through him aiding him in this terrifying situation. As Jaden watched his foe he noticed a slip in his technic just before he swung his staff downward for a vertical slice on Jaden's body, if he could just slow things down in order to make his attack he knew he could win this battle. Jaden blocked horizontal again and this time he pushed his foe's saber upward once his strike was complete and for a brief moment he called upon the Force to allow his movements to speed up and all of a sudden he felt time slow down and it was long enough that he would be able to lunge out at his enemy and pierce his body, hilt deep with Master Ur's saber to kill him. Jaden lunged forward stabbing the saber straight out and he felt the searing and melting of flesh as the blade made its way first through the clothing that his foe wore, then the skin he had followed by the flesh, muscle and finally bones to sink itself deep into the most vital organ a body can possess the heart. Jaden heard an audible shout as he followed through with this action, and then his enemy with one last breath went limp, and Jaden disengaged the saber causing the body to fall to the ground smoke still emitting from the saber shaped circle on the left side of his chest. He had done it; he had killed a dark Jedi.

Cheering erupted like a symphony from his companions across the landing port, and he could hear clapping and shouting from the outer fringes of the pad as well. It looks as if word had spread to the locals about a small group of rebels attempting to fight their way through the attacking imperial forces, and had all come to see this last duel between the rebels and the empire, and for the first time in a very long time everyone present witnessed a light saber duel. The event rippled felling of hope and courage through the rows upon rows of people just trying to catch a glimpse of a Jedi defending their home and not only fighting well but becoming victorious in the end. To this day all who were there left the duel feeling renewed in courage, strength and most of all faith that better things were to come not only to Dantoine but to the Galaxy as well.


	2. Chapter 2, Of Blasters Bombs and Losses

Chapter 2

Of Blasters, Bombs and Losses.

Over all the cheering and shouting, Jaden heard one noise above the rest that immediately changed his mood, one loud, long and high scream coming from the Eagles who stood behind him, Jai'ir had been shot by a bolt from the imperial garrison that was now storming onto the landing pad, dozens of civilians were instantly killed or injured as they burst through the crowd that had amassed in the entry way. Dax, Gurlan and Sou all returned fire while Jaden carried Jai'ir onto the shuttle; he rushed her to the only bench on the shuttle laid her down with his jacket as a pillow. He placed a thermal blanket over her body, adjusted the temperature to her specific body type, he knelt by her side and placed his arms around her, in one hand he held her soft head in the other, he put some pressure on her stomach where the blaster bolt had pierced her skin.

"Jai'ir, Jai'ir can you her me? Please say something!" Jaden cried, tears welling in his eyes. Jai'ir remained motionless he bowed his head over hers and in a whisper spoke to her hoping to get through her unconscious state, he pictured himself reaching into her mind and speaking to her soul directly. If another Jedi had been present they would sense the force radiating from him as he tried to get through to her. Jai'ir's eyes shot open and she gasped for air, coughed and looked into Jaden's face and she wept with the happiness she felt to see his handsome face again, his short brown hair, his soft lips, and his kind blue eyes. She was overcome with Joy and laughed a little.

"Jaden it's okay I'm okay, I'm here, and you don't need to worry anymore." As she said this she placed her small red skinned hand on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. Then moved her hand to his chin to lift his face to hers. She brushed the tears from his eyes and smiled a big smile full of love and relief that she was alive. Jaden lifted his head at the touch of her hands, tears creeping down his cheeks, smiled back at her and moved his arms to her shoulders as she sat up, and Jai'ir pulled his head to hers and kissed him passionately again, much like she had back in front of Master Ur's funeral pyre. Jaden kissed her back and after a long moment pulled away still holding her in his arms. Then she winced with pain and laid her head back on Jadens' jacket and closed her eyes to rest a moment or two her wound still bothered her but they were healing, now that she was awake.

"I'm going to start the engines up and get us out of here." Jaden said releasing his grip from her shoulders and headed towards the cockpit. He sat in the pilot chair in the shuttle and began priming the engines for take off. The shuttle lifted off the ground a little the boarding ramp still lowered for any of the remaining that wanted to hop on but none did, they just kept pushing back the imperial garrison as it tried to shoot the shuttle down. So he closed the ramp with a sigh and then Jaden looked out the window and tried to catch Dax's eye as the shuttle rotated upwards to take off towards the upper atmosphere. Luckily he did, Dax was crouched behind a pile of crates with Sou and Gurlan on either side of him, Jaden saw Dax raise his hand to his forehead and saluted Jaden with a nod and a look that said; go we will take care of these losers. Jaden saluted back, nodded and then turned his gaze back to the control panel.

Back on the landing pad, Dax, Sou and Gurlan saw the engines blaze a bright blue and as the shuttle took off the roar of the engines was deafening. But it was a comfort to know that their friends were on their way to a safer place. Dax turned to Gurlan and Sou, each were out of breath and had been fighting for not only their lives but the lives of Jaden and Jai'ir as well, now that the later had gone they could stop playing safe and put their all into the battle.

"Alright boys, odds are we aren't coming out of this alive, if we do we are damn lucky but if not then hell lets go down fighting our hearts out." Dax said as the three of them reloaded their weapons, armed their detonators and nodded a silent goodbye to each other fully knowing they would most likely die here and now.

"On the count of three." Dax said to Gurlan and Sou. The others nodded in agreement, and readied their weapons.

"One." Gurlan said, releasing his insect like thumb on the trigger of his thermal detonator, and priming his pistol in the other.

"Two." Sou said, unsheathing the double vibro-sword he kept on his back at all times, he was going out fighting the best way he knew, bringing a knife to a gun fight.

"Three. Let's go boys!" Dax shouted, jumped up and fired his repeater rifle at the enemy garrison. At the same time Gurlan threw out his detonator from behind the crates, and fired his weapon to cover his friend, the detonator had left his hand, and Sou focused himself jumped up and took off towards the far side of the enemy line away from the explosion and the crossfire of blasters, and bombs. He jumped through the air, twirling and slicing in all the directions he could, severing arms here legs there and ended the mass acrobatic attack with the slicing of the imperial officers head from the rest of his body. Once done, he took off towards the middle of the line again slicing and slashing where and when he could slowly thinning the lines of troopers as he went. However the hack and slash was not to last because as Sou approached the centre point of the troops a blaster bolt hit him square in the forehead violently throwing his head back and his body followed losing all momentum and crashing down backwards onto the cold hard steel of the landing platform.

A little ways away Jaden felt an uneasy feeling in his gut, he knew something was wrong, he knew one of his friends had died, Jai'ir had gained enough strength to join him in the cockpit and as soon as the feeling hit him she knew he was sad, so she placed a caring hand on his back and rubbed gently, and she laid her head on his shoulder from the seat next to him. At this Jaden's spirit calmed and his thoughts returned to their destination.

"Thank you Jai'ir your being here really helps I don't know if I'd be able to do this part alone, fleeing as my friends die. Just thank you." He said looking down at her. Jai'ir said nothing but she slowly rubbed Jadens' back and shoulders easing the tension in his spirit.

Across the pad Gurlan was running forward as he shot, he had to stop and take cover for a moment behind a small storage cone, he had taken fire in the leg, arm and shoulder but he would not give up he had to go out giving his all and a few scorch wounds would not stop him in the least. Then it happened, as he was crouching he went to reload his pistol, and a short ways off he began to hear a beeping and it grew louder and louder with each passing second, and then he saw it soaring through the air in an almost perfect arch, a detonator was headed in the direction of his cover, it landed a few feet away from him and in his mind he knew he could never get clear in time, he had exactly three seconds before the detonator exploded taking his insectoid body with it. Three, two, one 

"Carabast!" The Rodian cursed as the beeping ended and then there was blackness accompanied by a loud noise, and Gurlan was gone. His body partially disintegrate, flew through the air and landed a short ways from where Dax was in cover again firing his repeating rifle again at the few dozen troopers left on the landing platform, he managed to take out about six of them leaving only six remaining, but now there was only one of him and he was running low on clips. He had to beat these guys and do it before they beat him.

On the shuttle, Jaden again felt this uneasy feeling and he knew another of his friends had been taken from him. This time he lifted his hands from the controls and held onto his stomach with one hand and the other he tried massaging his forehead, he felt Gurlan's suffering as his friends body was disintegrated by the detonator explosion and then Dax's weakness when he saw Gurlan's lifeless half in tact corpse beside him. Jaden could barely breathe and he fell out of the chair to his knees as he felt Dax's helplessness as he fought the remainder of the garrison. Then it hit him, harder then anything previously, he felt a dark overwhelming presence from Dax and he knew very soon, his good friend would be taken as well.

Dax switched his rifle into precision mode and one by one he shot the remaining six troopers square between the eyes of their helmets knocking each violently backward much like they had done to Sou before his body struck the floor of the landing platform. As the last one fell Dax crouched again behind his cover, rested his head against it as he slid down to a sitting position, thinking his battle was over and then from across the pad he heard loud high pitched clicks, much like the sound we hear when someone wearing high heels approaches alerting us immediately to their closing presence. Dax daren't look at the source of the noise, for even he a non force sensitive person could feel the growing darkness that was heading towards his hiding place, then he felt a strong force close around his neck, lift him off the ground into the air, his hands moved to his throat as he could feel the force squeeze his windpipe tighter and tighter choking the very life out from him, then Dax felt his body turn in mid air and face the master of these powers, and he saw a woman approaching and she was holding her hand out towards him holding him by the throat in mid air slowly choking the life from his body.

Tavion, mistress of the empire he knew her face from the wanted ads in numerous republic hideouts still left in the galaxy. Were it not for his imminent looming death he would almost think her attractive, she had a tall slender body, tight leather pants, a short brown leather jacket that exposed her toned, bare midriff, the jacket also covered a short distance past her shoulders, his eyes traced the shoulders back to a thin neck, then down her chest where a low cut cloth shirt covered her upper torso to just above her stomach and back up to her face which was covered in a dark purple war paint, short brown hair pulled back into a bun behind her head, where two different feathers from some exotic creatures of some kind. Tavion's lips were also covered in a dark purple lipstick a small nose and bright brown eyes with what looked to Dax as yellow coloured irises and tiny black pupils.

Still kneeling on the shuttle Jaden closed his hand loosely around his throat, he could feel everything Dax was going through, undoubtedly due to the fact that for the past number of years, aside from Jai'ir Jaden was good friends with Dax and some would say he was his closest male friend. Jaden began gasping for air, and Jai'ir fell to her knees as well hands on Jaden's shoulders trying to shake him from this terrible experience telling him over and over that it wasn't actually happening to him he wasn't choking on anything, but she could not get through to him.

Dax began gasping for air, coughing and choking and fast. His hands struggled around his neck trying to rip the invisible hand from his throat. All of a sudden it was all gone the choking, the pain all of it and Dax fell to his knees in front of the woman, he looked up slowly and suddenly she was there standing over him looking down with what seemed like curiosity.

On the shuttle as soon as it had come the pain was gone and Jaden could breathe again, he coughed a little and looked up to see a very concerned Jai'ir kneeling beside him, looking him directly in his eyes, he noticed her lips moving but couldn't hear the words right away, then slowly his hearing returned and heard he worried voice, but he had never been happier to hear her as he was then, but as soon as the pain was gone sheer and deep sadness rushed through him body and soul, he knew that he would never see Dax again.

"Its Dax I'm sure… he, he's dead, choked by the force, he's dead" Jaden said coughing in between his words.

"Jaden, its okay your not choking, your alright please listen, your alright there's no one choking you, it wasn't real it was just a feeling please listen." Jai'ir had been saying over and over again trying to get through to him.

"Jai'ir I'm so glad you're here thank you." He smiled and hugged her tightly, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that came over him. His friends all of them were dead. Wiped out by the Empire, and he was running off to some monastery a hundred light years away from where he should be going, where the Empire was he had to stop them, but he needed to be stronger and maybe just maybe becoming a Jedi could give him that. He would soon find out, the shuttle made the hyperspace jump to the coordinates Jaden had imputed Yavin or more specifically one of Yavin's moons, Yavin 4.

Tavion had spared Dax's life for one reason and one alone, she needed an assassin, and by eliminating a garrison of twenty-five almost by himself, she was a little impressed, and maybe she would have use of this traitorous rebel. Not to mention he knew a Jedi or at the very least a force sensitive that maybe if persuaded enough she could take on as an apprentice, but that was yet to been seen, for now she needed to offer this whelp an opportunity.

"Why… spare… me?" Dax coughed and gasped as the words left his mouth, he looked up and the woman was still above him.

"You may be of use to me yet, Rebel." The woman spat as she said the last word. Dax was smart enough to know that if he wanted to live he had one right answer here everything else would get him killed, was he willing to do that to Jaden, to Jai'ir. By now they had already jumped to hyperspace and were far enough away that this choice would not get them killed, if anything perhaps even by them extra time for Jaden to start his training, and then if he saw him again get him to bring this woman down. Dax made his choice.

"How can I serve you, mistress?" Dax said lowering his head in a bow. A look of amusement crossed the woman's face, Dax looked up slowly.

"Come, hear my words." The woman said turning and began walking out of the landing pad, the garrison followed, as the last trooper turned his back. Under his breath Dax spoke praying Jaden would hear him through the force.

"I'm sorry Jaden forgive me please, but I'm protecting you pal, Eagles look after their own, and we always will." Dax stood and followed the garrison back to their shuttle on the opposite side of what now were the ruins of this once great, ancient Jedi academy.


	3. Chapter 3 Trials

Chapter 3

Trials

Jaden and Jai'ir entered the atmosphere of Yavin 4 one of the gas giant Yavin's largest moons. Along the ground they saw nothing but endless trees and bushes, they had been flying for around an hour before they began seeing the peaks of structures that where peaking above the greenery, they looked ancient and ruined but as they grew closer Jaden just knew this was where they needed to be, or at least a starting point. Then the comm channel beeped. On the screen the message said a rebel base was contacting them, Jaden told the computer to accept the call and a man's voice came over the speakers.

"Transport shuttle Identify yourselves, you are operating an imperial class vehicle and if no response is issued we will shoot you down." The man's voice was unwavering, and serious they needed to tell him what they were doing here, so Jaden proceeded to respond.

"Rebel base, we are here to join the Jedi Academy, as a dying wish from a good friend of mine Master Jun Ur, may we land?" Jaden responded, he looked over to Jai'ir who nodded in approval at his response.

"Transport shuttle use landing pad five, someone will be there to meet you shortly. " The man's voice came again over the speakers and once he had finished, coordinates appeared on Jaden's monitor, he typed them in and the shuttle changed its course this time en route to the rebel base.

Halfway across the galaxy back on Dantoine, a legion of Imperial troopers were all lined up in rows in front of a new imperial transport model built to carry over three hundred troops to any destination in the known galaxy, and ahead of the troopers were several officers, ranked low to high and still ahead of them Tavion patrolled in a straight line going from one end of the troops to the opposite, and from Dax's cell window it looked as if she was either reprimanding the troops for letting everyone else escape or congratulating them on acquiring a previously unknown potential ally, most likely the former as she was a self-proclaimed Sith empress.

Dax took a seat on the cold hard bench that was in his dark cell, he began to think as the time passed; What would he do next, how could he get himself out of this, and why did this happen to me? All questions with no answers at the moment, it was driving him crazy, he needed to act and fast, he stood up and began to pace back and forth left and right trying to come up with some sort of brilliant idea that might actually help him. He heard a noise in the darkness, a shifting and a sigh he wasn't alone not anymore.

Jaden engaged the automated landing cycle, as they approached landing pad five, as the shuttle descended he took a quick glance around the platform as the boarding ramp lowered, staggering towards them well more like shuffling was a gold protocol droid and behind it was a small blue and white astromech droid.

"Greetings potential student, I am C-3P0 Human Cyborg relations and this is my counterpart R2-D2 and today we will be determining which area of the force you are strongest with and then sort you accordingly, from there you will board a shuttle to the Academy and from there your training shall begin." R2 beeped and whistled in agreement, with his partner.

"Now if you would please follow me we shall go to the testing room." The protocol droid turned and started back into the base Jaden and Jai'ir followed behind it, R2 brought up the flank as the four headed into the Rebel base, and stood looking out at the entrance waiting for the hopeful's to return.

"This is going to be fun." Jaden said to Jai'ir as they walked through the metal hallways and rooms of the main Rebel base on Yavin. C-3P0 led them around a few tight corners to a scanning machine, before heading in the droid did something with the access screen on the side of the machine.

"Now before we continue may I please know your name?" 3P0 asked politely.

"Jaden Korr." Jaden responded, the droid typed something else in and then asked him a second question.

"In which system were you born?" The droid asked again.

"To be honest 3P0 I have no idea, I only know I grew up on the planet Minum and though times were hard my parents helped me learn to work, learn respect and gave me a good upbringing.

"Very well sir, next question." 3P0 said politely, he typed something in the screen, and continued on.

"I am going to present you a scenario with a question at the end and your job is to answer the question in the manner which you feel reflects you most honestly, do you understand sir?" 3P0 asked inquisitively.

"I understand." Jaden responded allowing 3P0 to continue his programed question.

"Very good, let's begin; You are on a mission to recover important documents from a hidden supply base, you make it through the perimeter all the way to the prison block where a secret entrance to the mainframe is located, as your going you here a soft voice form one of the cellblocks do you; A continue your mission, telling yourself you can save the prisoner later, B go and speak to the prisoner and figure out who they are, why they are here and if they need to be set free, C incapacitate a guard take the key to the cells and open all of them thinking you are short on time and need a quick fix to the situation or D do nothing and simply retrieve the plans and return to your ship undetected escaping but leaving the prisoner to his or her own fate." C-3P0 concluded the scenario and waited for Jaden's response.

Jai'ir was standing behind Jaden taking every inch of the base in while she could, she felt a peace in the place one that she hadn't felt in a long time, she was also very impressed with all the technology these rebels had at their disposal they must have either a very wealthy backer or at least numerous semi wealthy backers, either way she needed to find her own way in this new way of life with Jaden, if he joined the Jedi and she did not, they would have to hide their feelings with others as any hint of attraction between the two would pass as disrespectful to the Order and potentially damaging and comprising to his place in the order. So the solutions she came up with that could work for them is she could join the rebellion, that way they would at least get to see one another now and then on different missions and would be able to be together in those times. Otherwise any down time Jaden would get he could spend with her when he is not studying. Or they could go with the option that she could attempt to join the Order, do her best and hopefully get accepted, this would be the best option she and Jaden had agreed upon, however this entry test, they had heard was challenging so she was a little sceptical of her chance to pass it. Her thoughts were interrupted as a second protocol Droid approached Jai'ir and began the same way that 3P0 had.

"Greetings hopeful, please state your name so we may begin your entry test." The shiny silver looking droid said as the droid began typing on the screen that had popped up in front of it.

"Your name, madam?" The droid spoke; Jai'ir shook her head a moment and looked at the droid

"Apologies. My name is Jai'ir Shandow." Jai'ir said and the droid tapped the screen for a moment and continued.

"Greetings, hopeful Shandow. I am C-625 Entry testing protocol assistant." The silver droid responded, as he began preparing the next question.

"In which system where you born?" C-625 asked.

"Ryloth home of the Twi'lek species, to a poor family who did nothing but work all the time just to break even with the demands of the government on Ryloth." Jai'ir responded not sounding proud in the least.

"Very well may we continue please, hopeful Shandow." 625 asked moving along with its programming.

"Yes, we may." Jai'ir responded.

Dax could barley make out the silhouette of an old man in the shadows of his cell, he had thought it rather strange he was tossed in a cell by himself with an old man.

"Think you can help your friend from inside here? Ha. Doubtful young man, doubtful." The old man spoke with a strange voice one that almost sounded exotic but Dax couldn't place it.

"Keep your voice down old man, they will hear you, and then all this will be for nothing!" Dax said angrily to the man.

"Oh don't you worry about that, they don't care what we talk about in here as long as we keep quiet when they tell us to shut our yaps." The old man said with a small laugh.

"Name's Feit, Bonta Feit and you my friend, are in need of a hand." Feit said to him as he extended his hand to shake Dax's. Dax stuck his hand out hesitantly and shook the old man's hand.

"Jester, Dax Jester." Dax said reluctantly.

"Dax Jester, hmm that's a very nice name you've got there, any ideas where it originated? Father's name, mothers name or something of the like?" Feit asked inquisitively.

"Yeah something like that." Dax said hesitantly wondering why this old man had asked him such a question in the first minute they were introduced, he figured he was just a crazy old coot who'd been cooped up for to long.

"Why are you trying to get to know me Fiet?" Dax asked hesitantly.

"Well I figure, if your going to be saddled with a cellmate might as well get to know 'im, you don't agree?" Fiet said, and the old man sat down against the wall and sighed. Feeling awkward in silence Dax decided to break it and at the same time learn a little about this senile old coot that the imperials had made him cellmates with.

"So what'd they peg you for Fiet?" Dax asked curiously.

"Oh probably countless offenses or infractions, you see in my younger days I was what you would call a specialty contractor, substance running, assassination, smuggling the works, and while I did all those things I most likely made hundreds of enemies who always seemed to show up at the worst possible moments. Escaping the jaws of an enormous space worm, a hostile wampa and oh, not to mention a creepy pit of teeth and tentacles. Every time, I had thought I made it through one of my missions, these idiots that were chasing me showed up so, naturally I fought back, except one time when I let my guard down and they ended up capturing me and tossing me into this slim pit of a suite ain't that nice of 'em eh boy?" Feit responded and waited for Dax's reaction.

"All those amazing moments in your life and now your rotting away here, you've given up, peh, your pathetic a real rogue like you claim to be wouldn't let four walls and carbon bars hold him in. Your nothing but a washed up, useless weak old corpse as far as I am concerned." What happened next caught Dax so completely off guard he was knocked unconscious in milliseconds, and everything went black.

"C thinking I am short on time I find a quick fix to the situation." Jaden told C-3P0 after a short thought process.

"Very good, next question." 3P0 continued.

"You're facing a dark Jedi, and you have just let you team escape with a wounded friend, you are vulnerable because you are alone, the dark Jedi knows this and decides to prey on it with an offer to join their side and not be alone anymore, you are very emotional and cannot think clearly what do you do?" 3P0 finished and lifted his receptacles to Jaden's eye level and waited for a response.

"I assume my saber would be activated?" Jaden asked, and began to analyse the question critically.

"Yes it would, sir." 3P0 answered.

"I deactivate my saber and attempt to focus my emotions and not let the persuasion of power cloud my judgement and I begin defeating my enemy with the light and veer away from the dark." Jaden said, knowing this would be the answer the droid would accept.

"Very good sir, next question." The droid continued as he selected something on the screen he was watching.

Once Jaden and C-3P0 were introduced, 3P0 had taken Jaden into testing room 1 while Jai'ir was led into room 2 by 625 and was getting questioned along similar lines, up until the next question she would be asked, she had chosen all the answers that she knew with her head that would get her into the academy, however the next question the droid asked her would tug on a particular heart string of hers that was more vulnerable then others.

"You get called to a planet to help some settlements fend off some local monsters and reinforce their defences. You arrive only to find the settlement desecrated, and almost all of the civilians killed and their bodies strewn all over, it is clear that you had arrived to late and the monsters had overrun the settlement and killed almost every single settler females, males and children, you go to investigate one of the few buildings remaining only to find one of the monsters closing in on a family. What do you do?" The droid paused, waiting for an answer from Jai'ir but she couldn't give one immediately as she had a horrified look on her face and tears falling from her eyes. This question was hard for her because she had been in that exact situation, however when she had been in that situation she was a mere seven earth years old and was helpless to stop the monster from killing her parents and her brother and sister, on Ryloth. She began to cry audibly and was unable to get a handle on her emotions.

"Hopeful Shandow, I require an answer in order to proceed." The protocol droid said still waiting for Jai'ir's answer, so she gave him the most authentic and truthful answer yet.

"I understand 625, here is my answer. I jump between the monster and the family, force it back out of the building, and kill it with no remorse or feeling I just deliver the blow and wipe the filthy and disgraceful thing from the face of the galaxy and I make sure it stays dead and gets what it deserves for extinguishing the life from an entire settlement." Jai'ir answered with burning hatred in her eyes. A beeping came from the console 625 was standing behind. Which drew Jai'ir's attention from her feelings of hatred for the beings that had destroyed her village so long ago.

"I am sorry hopeful Shandow, but that answer comes from a dark part of your life that you cannot escape from you will not be admitted into the academy as you have the potential to become a powerful enemy, I am sorry." 625 said and Jai'ir swore she actually could hear a little concern from the droids voice.

"Please exit the room and return to your ship." 625 said shutting off the console he was behind.

Jai'ir did as she was asked and left the testing room, and waited outside for Jaden to return. As she left her emotions exploded and she began to cry and weep heavily, that test had brought some long lost memories to the surface of her mind and lingered there the entirety of the time she stood waiting for her beloved to return.

While this was going on Jaden who stood just on the opposite side of the second testing room door was hit with the strongest feeling of fear and anger he had felt since the day Master Ur was killed by the old Sith on Dantoine. Something was wrong with Jai'ir and he wanted so desperately to console her and be there for her when she needed him.

"Master Korr? May we continue please?" 3P0 asked politely. Jaden had lost focus and turned towards Jai'ir's direction. 3P0 had noticed and attempted to gain his attention back.

"Of course, I'm sorry 3P0 please go on." Jaden responded, pushing his need to comfort Jai'ir to then back of his mind for now.

"Thank you sir last question." 3P0 said and pulled a list up on the computer.

"Should you be admitted into our academy, is there a particular school of the force that you wish to gain higher understanding about?" The protocol droid began reading from the screen in front of him.

"Do I have options?" Jaden asked patiently.

"Of course sir, I had just paused in case you had a particular school in your mind already. That is all.

"Well I do like combat and learning how to use a saber better." Jaden said thinking a little now that this question was up to him even more then previous ones.

"Very well I will take that into account with your application. Is they're any of these areas that interest you in any way, master Korr?" C-3P0 asked and began listing some of then main areas of the force Jedi study.

"Healing, Wisdom, intelligence, persuasion, offense, defence or other." The droid listed the different areas of study and Jaden began thinking of each one and how it could have been applied to his life and situation at that point in time.

"Thank you 3P0 but my choices are these, Combat, persuasion, defence, offense and Wisdom." Jaden said decidedly.

"Very good master Korr, I have completed your analysis and you would be best suited for the group of guardians that will be leaving from shuttle bay 4 the shuttle leaves in roughly 60 mins from now. Please say your farwells and prepare yourself for your new life, and Welcome to the Jedi Academy Initiate Jaden Korr.

"Thank you 3P0 I assume masters will be assigned at the academy?"

"You are correct master Korr, now please exit the testing room and prepare for take off.

Jaden did so only to find a sobbing Jai'ir slumped on the floor with her arms around her knees clutched to her chest. She was upset, sad or just worried, Jaden didn't know which exactly but he knew what needed to be done. He helped Jai'ir to her feet and pulled her into a long embrace and he just held her tightly, she nestled her warm head into his neck and sobbed quietly for a short time. Once she had let out most of her bottled emotions Jaden looked down at her, wiped the tears from her face and kissed her passionately she did the same. Once they parted Jaden broke the silence between them.

"What's wrong Jai'ir?" Jaden asked looking deeply into her silver eyes and touched her soft red skin.

"I failed the entry test and was rejected from the academy, all because of what happened to my parents all those years ago. Jaden what are we going to do now?" She asked looking to him for leadership, all Jaden did was pull her into another embrace.

"Don't you worry about that, we aren't going to lose each other, but we wil be apart for some time perhaps a few years depending on how I do at the academy, but I promise you this, not once will I ever lose you from my thoughts and my heart you will be forever with me as I am with you, not even millions of lightyears apart will ever stop me from loving you and keeping you with me always. Jai'ir smiled and kissed Jaden again her tears subsiding as she began to accept this new reality they would be taking on together.

"As you will be with me my dearest Jaden, I will love you always and forever, and you will be with me always in my heart and my thoughts."Jai'ir said and the two released one another.

"Where will you go next?" Jaden asked curiously to Jai'ir.

"I need to settle this piece of my past that holds me back from my potential, just before I left the training room, 625 told me I had the potential to become a powerful enemy and that's exactly what I will do, but as an enemy of those monsters that killed my village and more importantly my family. I also think I'll try and track down our friends bodies and see to their proper funerals, however I am more focused on the monsters that killed my people they need to die and I will kill them alone if I have to." Jai'ir responded and Jaden could feel the anger rising in his mate, but he did not press her on it he only cautioned her against any rash decisions that could be harmful to her survival, she nodded and promised to be careful. With that the lovers shared several long moments in each other's arms, kissing one another and exchanging 'I love Yous' multiple times. Then the time came Jaden headed for docking bay 4 and Jai'ir left to find a ship to take her on the hunt for these creatures that had destroyed her home and her family. As a secondary objective Jai'ir would use the ship when she could to try and track down the bodies of the Eagles and give them their proper burial, little could she guess she would only find two of the three bodies of her former squad.

Dax shifted in and out of consciousness, he felt the cold hard floor beneath his back and he also felt his wrists and ankles weighed down to the point of immovability. He had no idea what had happened or what was going on, the last that he remembered was talking to some old man and hearing a story about when he was young and then a blur of movement and nothing. Dax slowly opened his eyes, he was not in his cell like he had though, he was on a cold metal table and there was a bright light above taking up the majority of his view around the outside of his vision he could see shadows and reflections but no clear picture. After a moment or so a humanoid shaped silhouette came into view, though his ears were ringing he could make out three words.

"Begin the procedure." A voice said and then nothing but pain overwhelmed him and he passed out.


	4. Chapter 4 The Ascension

Chapter 4

The Ascension

Warning sirens could be heard as Jaden headed down the long hallway in front of him towards docking bay 4, he broke off into a run and made it onto the boarding ramp of the shuttle just before it lifted off the ground and retracted into the hold. Jaden opened the door into the passenger bay and as the metallic door slid out of view he looked at ten rows of seating on either side of the hold, and scattered throughout several different species of life forms all around him, there were human, around six men not including himself and seven women all wearing numerous types of clothing. In another part of the bay there were four Kel Dorian males, dressed in light material outfits. Jaden figured this was for easy movement and he was reminded of what Master Jun Ur would be wearing when the Eagles were in combat on missions.

He continued scanning the crowd to see, Zabarak females and Twi'lek females as well, and his thoughts drifted to Jai'ir and he desperately hoped she was finding her way alright, this would be the first time the two of them had been apart in almost ten years. He was scared for her, would she be all right, would she find what she was looking for and would she be thinking of him when he thought of her. Jaden shook his head briefly refocusing his thoughts he walked towards a seat in the first row behind the cockpit and sat down in the last seat in the row he closed his eyes and thought of how he would adapt to this new lifestyle away from the rest of the galaxy he loved and away from the thrill of the mercenary lifestyle and away from the one he loved. Not to long after Jaden had sat down, another person sat down a few seats away he was a young man, black hair, he wore brownish orange clothing with white trim and on his legs and hands he wore fingerless black gloves that reached up to his elbows. Jaden noticed him but didn't pay much mind but continued focusing his thoughts on his new life.

"I'm Rosh By the way." The young man said to Jaden after talking to himself a little. Jaden found this odd but acceptable so he had just listened.

"Jaden." Jaden responded. Not to long after their introduction, the hopefuls shuttle was shot down by something and it crash landed in the jungle around five clicks west of the Academy, close to a near by Massassi Temple from the time of Exur Khun stood. Jaden and Rosh left the wreckage on the opposite side from the other hopefuls. The captain had commanded Jaden and Rosh to head to that Temple so they could meet up with the rest of the students from the Academy.

After a rigorous trek through the small bit of jungle between the shuttle crash and the near by Massassi temple Jaden and Rosh finally made it to the temple after fending off multiple jungle creatures called howlers, a very surprising crew of Storm Troopers, and even one dark Jedi. Jaden was honing his skills and well. Most can't beat a dark Jedi in their prime let alone as an initiate. This surprised Grand master Skywalker, so in the moths that followed the shuttle's crash landing, Master Skywalker kept a close watch on Jaden and slowly he became the Academy's most promising student. Kyle, Jaden's Master continued to go on missions together with Jaden slowly learning everything Kyle could teach him. After the first few missions, Rosh confronted Jaden in the common room of the temple and expressed some concerns that he wasn't getting the same attention as Jaden and that Kyle was holding him back. Jaden didn't really have a response however a day came about a month later when Master Skywalker called everyone to the grand hall, and gave each of the masters and students specific missions to follow up on, some students where sent to Dagobah a shelter for the previous Grand Master of the order Yoda, others to cloud city on Bespin, the list continued and then Jaden and Rosh were given their missions, Hoth and Byss, both were important to master Skywalker in his younger days and Rosh finally received his chance to prove his talents, as was Jaden.

However not everything went as Master Skywalker had hoped, none of the students turned any evidence up in connection to this Cult that the Academy was facing, all they found were planets void of the Force that once flowed so fully through them. Another thing that was not in Luke's plan was Rosh not returning from Byss, once the remaining students returned to the Academy Kyle decided to try and find out what happened to Rosh, only to find he had turned to the dark side and was now working against his former friends. When Jaden returned from Hoth he reported facing a powerful dark Jedi apprentice known as Alora she escaped but not before giving Jaden some information that was useful in their search for this cult. Resulting in his promotion from student to Apprentice in the ranks of the Jedi.

Jai'ir was staring out the transparasteel window of the small delivery cruiser that was enroute to the moon of Duxun close to the planet Onderon, this moon thousands of years ago was more Jungle then settlement but over the years that evened out and was as much settlement as it was jungle and it was up to Jai'ir to pick up the trail of the imperials that had taken Dax and she was determined to find him and help him if she could. Here is where her investigations had led her an investigation that started once she had landed on Dantoinne, she went immediately to questioning the locals on the events after she and Jaden had lifted off the landing platform outside of the main settlement. She learned that after they took off almost immediately Gurlan and Sou were killed but not after brave heroics by them both individually, but Dax, he held off a full forty men imperial garrison by himself which impressed this evil looking woman who once the last trooper fell of the garrison she stopped the fire fight and all the imperials stood down. She then proceeded to congratulate Dax on his skills and offered him a peaceful death, he refused and she thought for a moment and then just turned away, ordering her troopers to take him prisoner, and they dragged him off, only on luck did she find out where the shuttle had gone because when the imperials landed a droid went do a quick repair on the main hull and by accident downloaded then navicharts and their next destination. Which brings us back to the present where the delivery cruiser was landing in the settlement which was once the sight of an ancient Mandalorian training camp, very little remained but one could clearly see signs of Mandalorian architecture and when you booted the comp up a small banner of Mandalorian writing flashed across the screen which, when deciphered read, Duxun Camp 1 in Command of Candorous of Clan Ordo and Mandalore of the year 4075.

Jai'ir stepped out of the outer airlock of the cruiser and began walking around the settlement, she noticed several merchants right away all carrying a variety of different items and different trinkets of value and worth. Over the years massive dwellings and buildings had gone up all across the ancient Mandalorian camp, and now there were a few space scrapers that dotted the landscape and numerous cantinas and nightclubs there was a speeder rental building, a port authority shop where you could buy pieces for your ship, cruiser or speeder. It was amazing what Galactic kind can do in a few thousand years. Jai'ir however was looking for a guard or authority figure that could tell her if anyone had seen an imperial shuttle land or at the very least fly overhead, but so far she had, had no luck.

For a short time Jai'ir moved amongst the settlement until she came to what seemed to her as a gate guard or watchmen standing on the edge of one of the balconies looking into the vastness of what remained lush forest or greenery. She thought perhaps she would be able to get some answers out of him. As she closed the distance between them, the guard's eyes flashed in her direction, noticing her approaching him. She stopped directly in his line of sight.

"No one is to leave the settlement without an armed escort, please return when you are accompanied by one." The guard spoke as he looked at Jai'ir.

"Thanks for the advice, but I just need some answers and perhaps you can help me out." Jai'ir said turning on her inexcusable female charm, for the first few seconds the guard didn't respond but then he sighed heavily and engaged her again.

"I doubt it but go ahead." The guard said resiliently, and his posture relaxed a little, Jai'ir knew she was wearing him down and eventually she might get the answers she needed.

"I am looking for signs of an outside presence on the planet, rumours and all that. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary recently?

"Not recently. Can you be more specific?" the guard asked her, Jai'ir knew she only had a few chances to get the answer out of him so she tried again.

"You haven't seen anything?" She placed a hand on the guards shoulder and tapped her fingers lightly against him and tilted her head a little staring him in the eye and smiled a little. She felt the guard shiver a little and she knew she was getting through, so she asked again.

"No, shuttles or transports or…" she paused gently brushing her hand along the guards bicep.

"Odd people?" Jai'ir asked and the guard breathed out, she had got him seduced him just enough to tell her what she needed.

"Now that you mention it a few cycles back I did see a large white cruiser fly overhead, and then not to long after some strange people had shown up in town, never been here before and I knew it cause I know everyone, I asked them if I could help and they wanted directions to an ancient ruin or something deep in the jungle and then nothing it's all black till the next day and I don't have any memories till afterwards." The guard said. Jai'ir smiled and she thanked the guard with a kiss on the cheek, she wasn't completely cruel. He smiled back and then she began to head past him into the jungle.

Jaden had gone a few more missions and in the days before every mission Jaden was able to go and explore the Academy's library and understand the force on a deeper and deeper level, through holocrons, holorecords and simply meditating, and each mission he went on with or without Kyle accompanying him he came back with a more knowledge of this Cult that the Jedi were fighting, and much to Master Katarn and Master Skywalkers dislike Jaden a strong curiosity about the darker side of the Force and the power it granted him while he was hunting down this enemy. Master Katarn tried to drill the skills of controlling his dark side and using the power it gave him for the good of the Galaxy not his own means. Though Jaden listened intently to Master Katarn he only considered them when controlling his thoughts and actions.

After some months Jaden who was very quickly becoming a promising student and Jedi, and the rest of the students, some who had been promoted twice or three times already, that most of the his fellow students had all achieved the rank of apprentice or Jedi by this point, so with that in mind Master Skywalker had called everyone to the grand hall for an update and a new joint mission as someone in the ranks had discovered a grand clue to help defeat this cult that threatened the Galaxy. Once again Jaden and Kyle were paired together and Master Skywalker sent the two of them to Vjun where one of Luke's fathers strongholds still remained. This was one of the most important missions yet to come up during Jaden's time at the Academy and he was determined to impress both his master and Master Skywalker. His mission started slow and uneventful but as they climbed higher and higher in Vader's castle new challenges appeared most in the form of some strong dark Jedi he had never before seen in the cult which was most certainly here and using the castle to continue to fill the sceptre Tavion had found with more and more dark side force energy and as he continued Jaden came to the top level of the Castle where most of the cult that he faced where that of Force using members which was starting to get worry some, how could something so miniscule such as the sceptre that it had the power to infuse all the hundreds of people with the power to bend the force to their will and control it to give them an edge over anyone who crossed them. This concept slowly became more and more enticing to Jaden as he faced the cultists through the castle. Finally after countless hours climbing the numerous floors in the castle Jaden had reached one of the main rooms in the upper floors of the castle, to his surprise the large stone statue of the Dark Lord Vader had been destroyed and was crumbling on the floor. How could something so strong be cut down so easily? Jaden thought and thought and thought about it and then he realized the only thing strong enough would have to be the sceptre, it was here, someone in Tavion's cult of dark side users had brought the sceptre to Vjun and was using it right now. He must have been getting close to the throne room. Jaden needed to get there and stop this, once and for all. He dispatched another dark Jedi much easier then he had been able to previous times a simple time manipulation with the force allotting him more time to make faster and more precise strikes on his foe let him in a mere three strikes decapitate his enemy with ease, but what he enjoyed most was the rush of power he felt once his foe lay headless before him. In the back of his mind he heard Kyle's teachings on controlling your dark side and Jaden needed that right now if he was to turn away from the dark Side, Which was what he wanted wasn't it? Thoughts raced through his brain but all were put to rest when he entered the throne room and met with the enemy behind this occupation of Vader's Castle. Rosh Penin.

Dax knew he was somewhere but he had no clue where, everything seemed so wrong and out of place when he woke up. He was in the same cell that they had placed him in before but, this time he was alone and his body did not feel his own. He opened his eyes and looked at his body, his right arm was now pure carbonsteel, his left arm had increased in size by almost half, and his torso looked more like that of a seasoned soldier in his prime then the scoundrel he had worked so hard to become fast, small and smart but instead now he was big and powerful but fast which to him didn't quite feel right. He slowly stood up his legs felt more powerful and full of strength, he was wearing his normal jacket and pants the only problem now was since he had almost doubled in size his clothes weren't as form fitting, as he would have liked them to be. Finally he was on his feet and moving again, he thought he would test out his new strength and power in a few laps across his rather large cell, and within five short minutes he had crossed the room four times back to back which he thought was impressive for one who had never run a day in his life, other then from guards, mercs or bounty hunters but now he would be able to run circles three times over around them and their hench-buddys.

The rush of ability felt euphoric and exciting, he had the body everyone had always dreamed of and it was all his. Or was it, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs; they were the same ones he had heard that day back on Dantoine. What intrigued him however was he could hear them from a very long distance, clearly whatever they had done to him also enhanced his primary senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. So much so that he could smell the guards odours from the very back of his cell, which was to us around twenty feet by forty feet by fifteen feet. As he waited the footsteps neared and eventually their owner appeared in his line of sight, it was Tavion, she had been responsible for this transformation and he needed to tell her exactly how he felt. Tavion reached the bars of the cell door and was met immediately by the shouts of anger and blame from Dax's mouth.

"This is your doing, your fault i'm useless, I am supposed to be small smart and fast but you've made me opposite, WHY!?" Dax screamed into Tavion's face and amazingly her face never faltered or changed not once. She remained emotionless and calm which was baffling to Dax, had the roles been reversed he would have been on his knees begging for mercy or something of the like. Once he calmed down a bit he turned his back on her and was pushed strongly from behind by the Force, his face and torso slammed into the back wall and then he felt a hand close on his neck but Tavion remained on the opposite side of the cell door holding her hand out towards him, choking him with the Force. Dax struggled and struggled and then as soon as it came the sensation was gone, Tavion had release him and was now waiting for him to catch his breath before speaking.

"Now you understand that I can crush you without even a thought know that I do value you but only to help me achieve my goal otherwise you mean nothing to me, do I make myself clear?" Tavion said fiercely.

"Perfectly mistress, perfectly." Dax responded kneeling before her. The words came from his head and not his heart, which he was sure Tavion could pick up on but it didn't seem to bother her or if it did, she didn't express it outright.

"Good now to business." Tavion paused and felt something stir in the force. She turned back around and headed out of the dungeon to her shuttle. The moon of Duxun was beautiful, it's a shame they couldn't stay longer.

"Excuse me but another of my pets needs some attention now. But I'll be back" She said after addressing the few remaining in the temple to guard from the pesky Mandalorians that are going to be on their way soon, if not sooner. The shuttle jumped to light speed and vanished from the Onderon System.

Jai'ir was walking through Duxun's dense jungle and for the first few hours she wasn't getting anywhere, she came across a few ancient Mandalorian ruins, a few cannocks and other local creatures as she pressed on, she found herself in a short tunnel that opened to one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen, in the clearing ahead of her Jai'ir came across an ancient Sith pyramid however something was wrong, just before the entrance of the temple there were about three imperial vessels that had landed, they had made a small base camp at the base of the pyramid, there were two elite fighter ships and one imperial shuttle. Something was going down here and she needed backup. Jai'ir turned around and began running at full speed back to the Mandalorian outpost to see if anyone would help her. As she exited the tunnel without her knowledge her foot tripped a perimeter sensor that the imperials had placed in the corner of the tunnel she missed it the first time because she was lucky enough to step just beyond its range and when her foot tripped it an alarm went off inside the ancient pyramid at the imperials temporary command centre. They sent the scouts out to check it out but the only thing that came back was a footprint that was fresh, someone had found them and recently and in response they upgraded their security. Placing numerous other sensors and a few traps in the first area of the temple.

Back at the Outpost Jai'ir came barrelling through the camp shouting for anyone to help her she had stopped at their duelling circle and before long everyone Mandalorian or other had gathered around in order to hear her out. She was just about to start explaining when from a short ways off a Mandalorian with a strangely small build was crossing the open space between the circle and the command module. The Mandalorian's steps could be heard from the middle of the circle approximately twenty paces away, as the Mandalorian came closer everyone could see the armour that glistened in the light, shining a bright silver and a dull black tint, and the helmet that was worn was one that was respected throughout the galaxy the mask looked intimidating and fierce but wherever it was seen it commanded respect from any and all Mandalorian kind. For the figure approaching was none other then Mandalore renowned chief of the tribe. The odd thing was this specific Mandalore looked rather small for a leader and also rather feminine which was very uncommon. This age's Mandalore was indeed a female and despite that fact she seemed to be very respected by her tribe.

Mandalore approached Jai'ir and spoke.

"What are you babbling about twi'lek?" Mandalore said, her voice was certainly female, which though Jai'ir expected it she was still surprised, to hear such a gentle voice coming from such a respected person. After catching herself Jai'ir answered Mandalore.

"Imperial's are camped out at an old temple of some kind out in the jungle. They looked as if they were prepping for an assault." Jai'ir went on to explain to the Mandalorians what she saw at the temple and detailed all the defences she saw along the way and before the Temple itself. After some deliberation Mandalore agreed to spare a small strike force to help Jai'ir get past the Imperials and hopefully find her friend.

Jaden and Rosh spoke for some time, to his surprise Rosh made a few good points but most of what he said was clouded not only by the dark side but from two of Desann's leftover Reborn's that had come along with him and before long the two, once friends engaged in a grand saber duel which ended with Rosh begging for his life and Jaden only being stopped by Kyle's voice from the entrance telling him this is not the path he wants to go down, However they were interrupted by a bolt of sith lightning striking them to the very core of their bodies, and from around the corner Tavion appeared and went into a monologue of revenge and plans, thinking that the two welps dying before her where actually listening, but in fact they were planning a way out. Once Tavion was finished her speech her and Rosh disappeared almost into thin air. As she left Tavion Brought the ceiling down with the power of the force, just as it would have crushed Kyle and Jaden Kyle stopped the falling debris with his own force abilities, Jaden then cut them an escape route through the floor of the room, both Jedi leaped down and out of the way as debris came crashing down behind them.

A trooper was walking through the hall of the shuttle and as he did he could hear the screams and cries of someone being tortured by some powerful energy and as he approached the rear he saw Tavion standing above Rosh, fury in her eyes electrocuting him violently with some lightning bolts, only to stop and choke him frequently. To the trooper this was normal behaviour when working with the Sith, but that did not make it any less unpleasant for the Trooper.

"DO NOT FAIL ME AGAIN WHELP" Tavion screamed at Rosh once she and him had left the palace. She was getting quite fed up with her new apprentice's lack of skill and ability when facing an opponent. She would give him one last chance to prove himself by sending him to Taspir III with an armada of troopers to take over the operation the republic had started there, and if he did not succeed in any way she would have him killed by her more promising student and supporter Alora. Once she had made her point she left to go check on her other project on Duxun.

Back on the jungle moon of Duxun Jai'ir and the mandalorian strike force that accompanied her, approached the ancient Sith temple the strike force took a quick survey of the field and came up with a plan. They would have to eliminate the imperial occupation from the outside in and eventually clear out the temple. The field ahead of them was swarming with imperial troops, the closest group surrounding a tent off to the left a short ways. The group then returned to the cover of the cave mouth they immerged from, and began to come up with a plan.

"So what do you guys think, can we do this?" Jai'ir asked the strike force.

"Well, there is really only one option, we have the clear out the occupants from the outside rim in, and hopefully not draw to much attention to ourselves." The leader said.

"I'm on board, I'll follow your lead." Jai'ir said. The mandalorian nodded and the team moved for the closest set of tents. There were about five imperials in this first camp, and it was one of the smaller ones, most of the rest of the tents the team could see had, ten to fifteen troopers and officers, and each was set up differently then the other. They had a challenge ahead of them but they needed to move and move quickly if they were to succeed.

Each mandalorian had a unique name, the leader was known as Alek, and the others Galactic basic names were Gjon, Lajan, and Nylice. Each had their specialty, Gjon was armour, explosives and close quarters, Lajan was all around and Pilot and Nylice's focus was long distance and precision. Jai'ir felt extremely under qualified with her basic knowledge and diplomacy and twin pistols. One by one the strike team eliminated the imperials camps and they had been doing a good job until a white shuttle flew overhead and began to descend. Quick as they could the team found some cover and watched as a woman exited the shuttle followed by three other dark force users and headed into the temple. Jai'ir could tell that because of the clothes they wore and what she remembered when Jaden got her off of Dantoine and had killed one other of their kind. Once the woman and her followers were out of site the strike team continued eliminating camps and troopers until they finally reached the main entrance of the temple. They peaked around a corner and noticed the ten troopers and three officers guarding the door, Nylice aimed his rifle from the cover of a tree a few meters away, and he had his sights trained on the centre officer. As he lined up his shot, he noticed the radio this must have been the commanding officer, he centred his shot on the officers skull took a deep breath and waited for the signal from Alek. He got the rest of the team in position and prepared them for the firefight that was only moments away. Once everyone was in position he gave the signal to Nylice.

"Break the bees nest Nylice." Alek said as he passed authority to Nylice to fire his shot.

Dax was on the ground huddled in a ball after the torture that Tavion had given him, with his enhanced abilities he heard footsteps approaching, as they got closer he recognized the high pitched tapping of Tavion's boots and he wanted to dash back into the corner that was the darkest in hopes that she wouldn't see him, but he knew better. So he just sat on the bench and waited. Sure enough not three minutes later Tavion appeared at his cell door again.

"Hello Dax, did you learn your lesson since I was gone, I certainly hope so because my plan for you is about to become reality. As we speak your despicable twi'lek female friend and a small strike team of mandalorians are entering the temple now, and for now my guards can keep them busy but the real enemy I want them to face is you!" Tavion noticed Dax lunge forward towards her in attempts to thrash at her with his massive new strength but she had made him and was in complete control.

"Ah ah, no attacking me no, and no they don't know you're here that is the beauty of it my pet. You will surprise them when they reach the burial chamber and there you will destroy them." Tavion said and laughed maniacally. Dax tried and tried and tried to lash out at his captor and torturer but to no avail. Taviron used the force to push him back against the far wall and there she electrocuted him again, sending bolts of force lightning continuously at him, till she was satisfied, and then she turned and walked away.

If anyone were to look into that cell they would see a charcoaled lump of flesh and call it dead on sight, however Tavion had left just enough life in Dax so he could recover in time for her big plan to unfold. All the troopers would hear over the next few hours would be the moans and cries of this lump of flesh suffering from the pain and shock; it was going to be a long few hours.

In the events that followed Jaden a and Kyle's mission to Vjun, Jaden took on a more active role at the academy achieving the rank of Jedi Knight, which also allowed him almost full access to the academies millions of books and tomes on force use and technique and the like. Jaden was exited to expand his quest for knowledge. He had put the encounter with Rosh aside and focused on his studies, but every so often his ever filling mind would pause for a while allowing his thoughts to wonder through the force to Jai'ir and how she was doing. He hoped she was all right and he hoped she knew that he was thinking about her.


	5. Chapter 5 The Fall of Korr

Chapter 5

The Fall Of Korr

Jaden was standing in the Grand hall of the Jedi Academy, trying to calm his furious heart, he was so angry with Rosh for betraying not only his trust and friendship but that of Kyle's, of Master Luke's, of the other students, the academy and above all the Jedi order itself. He knew that this fury had clouded his mind ever since he and Kyle left Vjun but he couldn't control it, he wanted to but whatever part of him was fuelling this rage was to powerful to overcome. He almost liked it. His thoughts were interrupted when he sensed his master approaching. Kyle came into the grand hall and headed towards Jaden.

"Master… Kyle what can I do for you?" Jaden asked standing when he felt Kyle directly behind him.

"Sit down Jaden, I am here to help you or at least try to." Kyle said as he and Jaden sat on the steps of the raised platform in the hall.

"What do you mean? I'm doing fine." Jaden responded. Taking a seat beside his mentor.

"What's going on Jaden? The past few weeks you have not been yourself, all the missions you've gone on you have handled them far more aggressively then any mission in your past, Luke and I are getting worried that you may make the wrong choices in the coming missions. So I am here to figure out why that is." Kyle said looking into Jaden's eyes, which flashed into a glare for a minute. Kyle felt a shift in Jaden's mood suddenly instead of open and willing, he felt defensive and frustrated.

"Jaden I am not trying anything I just want to understand what is going on so I can help you, its what masters do for apprentices, they can tell when something is off from their students, and because they care about the students life, they try to help them through whatever they are battling, and that is all I am trying to do for you now, I want to help you because I care about your life," Kyle said kindly. Once he explained this, Jaden's mood shifted again to a more calm and open one. He had gotten through to a small part of him, which was a good sign.

"I guess I have just been so angry lately because of what happened on Vjun, even though I defeated Rosh and the Reborn with him. All my stored up anger and fury came out in that battle and before you arrived my saber was at his neck, and he was begging for mercy, I almost didn't want to give it to him, because of everything he did, in those few moments for me time stopped, I recited the code and I was fighting the urge to run him through with every ounce of my being. I had raised my saber to stab him when you came through the door and stopped me, after that, everything, all the anger the fury and the urge to kill Rosh disappeared. I never thanked you for that, so thank you. However though, I thought all those feelings had left me, these past few weeks they have come back every time I had to kill an enemy or a creature, I don't want them to haunt me anymore but in the moment part of me almost thrives on them, they give me power, strength and freedom but I don't want them too, that's why I think I haven't been myself." Jaden said honestly to Kyle who thought for a moment and then answered him.

"I know exactly what you are going through Jaden. Let me tell you a story, when I was a mercenary working for the highest bidder, Jan and I had to go through some pretty rough patches, but none more so then when I thought Tavion had killed Jan on Artus prime, I watched Tavion drag her into the back of a shuttle and kill her while Desann forced me to listen to her cries of pain and suffering. After that, all that fuelled my actions my thoughts and my desires, was revenge on Desann, on Tavion and anyone associated with them because in my eyes anyone remotely connected to Desann's cult was responsible for killing Jan. So I went on my missions and didn't even consider the right choice because all the missions were connected to the Cult. I eventually got through my grief when I found Jan on an imperial cruiser, but even though I found her, the anger still drove me and only with the help of Luke and Jan was I able to get over my anger." Kyle told Jaden.

"I Know the situation wasn't the same Jaden but the emotion was, the point is don't let anger control and fuel your mind, that is the path to the Dark side." Kyle said placing a hand on Jaden's shoulder. Jaden's mind was processing everything Kyle was and had said, it helped a little but not enough to have a lasting effect on him. So he just nodded and thanked Kyle for speaking to him but he had to deal with this himself. So after another moment or two Jaden stood up and headed out of the Grand hall to the hanger for his next mission.

"May the Force Be With you Jaden Korr, and trust in it." Kyle said as the doors to the hall closed behind his student.

There had been reports of cult activity on Taspir III, and he had been chosen to find out if the rumours had any truth to them. His thoughts drifted to Jai'ir in hopes that she was okay, he closed his eyes and in his heart he said,

"Jai'ir my love I hope you are ok, be safe and know I am always with you." Jaden opened his eyes and started the engine on his X-wing fighter lifted off and left the planet's atmosphere. Jumping to light speed as soon as he saw open space.

Nylice's heartbeat slowed as he inhaled and looked down the scope of his rifle, the Mandalorians cross hair's lined up with the white helmet of one of the storm troopers, his finger squeezed, and Nylice saw the trooper's head snap back, showering the others in his squad in a bright crimson red waterfall, painting their snow white armour in blood head to toe. For a moment the troopers stood still, stunned at what had just happened, but not for long the troopers fanned out in a search formation. The Mandalorians however were expecting this, and in a matter of seconds they picked their targets off with one clean shot each. Together they advanced to the next circle of troops and the next and the next all the way to the main staircase of the tomb. Jai'ir was crouched behind some supply crates, her heart was racing, and then out of nowhere she felt this immediate calm wash over her. She knew Jaden was reaching out to her and thinking about her. She smiled to herself nodded to the Mandalorian troop and as one they approached the tomb door. As soon as her foot hit the hard black stone of the Sith temple she felt another presence that she recognized. One that took her utterly by surprise, she felt that Dax was inside, but he wasn't himself his presence had changed somehow.

The small team breached the doors and were met with what seemed an unending wave of troopers. Alek, his soldiers and Jai'ir all took cover behind various pillars and stone monoliths that were scattered throughout the tomb. The walls of the tomb were made of some black stone, and the only light that anyone could see was a blood red that blanketed the entirety of the inside of the Pyramid. The team started out down the main hall in front of them. It first led them to a large room with three different exits one to the right, one to the left and third one straight ahead but what blocked them were two of the largest black stone doors any of them had ever seen. Alek's team kept an eye on the two open exits on the left and right while Jai'ir and Alek approached the doors.

"What is this?" Jai'ir asked hoping Alek would have some idea, but he just shook his head. She placed her hand on the door and again she felt the unmistakable presence of Dax but just as before it felt as if he had changed somehow, angry and more mechanical but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I think someone I know is beyond the door we need to find out how to open them and fast." Jai'ir said. Alek looked at his troops, and nodded, each Mandalorian that was watching the exits turned and started down them two down the left and two down the right, Nylice and Alek stayed behind to guard Jai'ir should any imperials move on their position.

Ten minutes had passed since the Mandalorians left the main room, Alek called them on his wrist comm, each team had run into a small patch of imperials and had to eliminate them, but they had reached the end of the halls and found an ancient computer with a lever beside it.

"Sir it looks like these computers have some sort of puzzle we need to solve before we pull the lever, what should we do?" One of the Mandalorians said via comm,

"Aye sir ours does as well, do we continue?" Another asked.

"Aye do your best to solve them, if these lever's open our door which I think they most likely do, we are in business. Do your best gentlemen and report back in once you've solved it." Alek ordered over the comm. Jai'ir exhaled deeply, they were able to stop at least for the moment she could collect herself and rest a bit, this whole mission had taken its toll on her in the last few hours she needed a moment to recover.

"I hope they are able to solve it, Alek are your men good with these types of things?" Jai'ir asked him sitting on a fallen piece of stone.

"Ma'am we are Mandalorians we are first and foremost a war type people but that doesn't mean we are illiterate or not able to solve problems, so while we may not have the best track record with puzzle or words they are a part of our culture same as any other race, the other races may just have a better history then we do." Alek responded while he checked his rifle and reloaded it.

"Good I hope they are able to solve this I need to find out who or what is behind those doors, and if my friend is in trouble we need to save him." Jai'ir said worriedly.

"Don't worry ma'am we'll get in there even if we have to blow the doors open. Understand?" Alek said to her confidently, Jai'ir nodded and leaned back. All the team could do now was wait.

Dax, stood overlooking a red pool of water with what to the untrained eye looked to be red lighting crackling over the surface of the pool. He had no idea how any of this would help but considering it was Tavion who told him that in the first place, he felt it right to have some doubts. He walked around the pool and the burial chamber several times; he wanted to figure out a way out so that if Tavion's plan failed he would have an escape route. However no way presented itself, he was starting to figure out that he was the plan, whoever was coming through those doors he would have to fight them and win if he wanted to escape and find Jaden and Jai'ir, and tell them about this, if Jaden was going to be a Jedi, he was someone who could stop Tavion. Maybe one of the only ones, he needed to get out of this fight alive, the galaxy depended on it. Tavion was a power hungry monster and needed to be stopped no matter what.

Dax knelt by the edge of the pool and began taking note of how many guards were in the room; he counted three officers and ten stormtroopers. If could make short work of the people coming into the room, he would be able to take care of these guards easily. As he thought this however a scorching pain burst through his skull and Tavion's voice could be heard in his ear.

"Now, now my pet there will be no thoughts like that, you will not betray me, a team of Madalorians, and the force sensitive Twi'lek you will kill them and everyone else who comes in those doors, only then will you be able to complete your purpose in my plan. You are my dog and nothing more. So OBEY!" Tavion's voice screamed and Dax lost all control of his body Tavion was controlling him and there was nothing he could do. So he waited, though his body was no longer under his control his mind was, he needed to think how to beat Tavion without alerting her to his plan. He looked around the room again. If he could get the people fighting him to back him into the red pool, which was pure dark energy he figured it would throw Tavion off somehow and he may just be able to gain control if even for a short time. So that was his plan get the Mandalorians that were storming the tomb to knock him back into the pool of energy and then he would go from there. As long as Jai'ir wasn'

For the next few minutes or so it was eerily quite in that burial chamber, the other guards said nothing. All anyone could hear was blaster fire from the other side of the two large Obelisk doors sealing the chamber off from the rest of the tomb. They could hear muffled shouting and talking from the other side but no one made a move, they all just hid in the corners and behind the pillars in this massive burial chamber, Dax was sitting behind the sarcophagus waiting for the doors to open and Tavions plan to be executed.

The sounds of blasters stopped and Dax knew the time was now, everything was quiet, and the only noise that could be heard was the crackling of the pool of energy in the middle of the room. Then there was a loud clicking, the doors unlocked and six Mandalorians entered followed by a red Twi'lek and Dax's heart skipped a beat, he couldn't believe his eyes, it was Jai'ir and she was about to be killed by the officer hiding behind one of the pillars. Dax Raced out from behind the sarcophagus and aimed his blaster at the officer but the opposing Mandalorian fire was to quick and to distracting to get a clean shot but he dove for the floor and as he hit it he squeezed the trigger on his weapon and shot the officer square in the face, the officer's head shot back and he crumpled to the floor in front of the Mandalorians they stopped looked at Dax for a moment and then to the fallen officer.

"It's an ambush." Dax breathed through the pain of Tavion squeezing his brain and body with the force from some unknown place. Dax howled in pain, falling to the floor Jai'ir moved to the front of the team.

"DAX? What the hell?" She shouted, but her words were cut off as the rest of the imperials emerged from their hiding places, and began a fire fight with the small team of Mandalorians, Jai'ir rushed to Dax's side and dragged him behind the sarcophagus again. She rested his head on her lap as her allies struggled against the overwhelming ambush, as she looked at Dax she heard a cry from one of the Manadalorians, they had lost one man and who knew how many more could last.

Jaden arrived on Taspir III, the facility that he and Kyle had to infiltrate was an imperial Mining facility, what they were mining he had no idea, but one thing was for sure it was hot, almost comparable to the centre of a volcano. He needed to fight though; he needed to figure out what the Cult of Ragnos was doing on a planet made almost entirely of lava and rock. Kyle wasn't to far behind him in the Raven's Claw but he landed in a separate part of the facility in hopes the two would meet in the middle and hopeful rid the facility of its occupiers.

Jaden entered the first building, the rooms were shaped like a circle with the middle carved out of each to hold the very large and very bright lava processing tube that spanned half the rooms length and towered three stories high. It was almost as the facility buildings were built and shaped around these cores. The room was also lined with screens, test tables and numerous other pieces of technology. The one thing that made Jaden smile more then all that though, was the fifteen imperial troops that occupied each floor of each building, which he easily dispatched of as he made his way through the facility. By the time he had gotten through the last building two things he knew were true, one he had almost completed his mission, and two he enjoyed it perhaps a little too much. As he came to the exit door of the building he could feel the anger, the rage and the power coursing through him, this cult had been a nuisance in his galaxy for too long and it was up to him to end it. The door opened to reveal what looked like an old man, and that caught Jaden off guard for a moment but before he knew it this seemingly old man had ignited his red saber and was charging towards Jaden.

Bringing his guard up again he blocked the strike the old man bore down on him, Jaden reached out with the force to grip the cultist by the throat, the cultist pushed him back and bore down another volley of attacks, Jaden was blocking each with ease, he did have a small advantage due to his two sabers where the cultist only had one, but Jaden was still getting pushed back almost to the point of getting knocked off the extremely high bridge that they were duelling on. Anger flared in Jaden, he would not go out at the hand of an old man, he gritted his teeth and put the anger into one massive kick to force the old man back, his boot connected with the cultists ribcage and the cultist stumbled back and went down to one knee attempting to regain his breath. However Jaden reached out one more time with the force and began to choke the cultist, as he did Jaden moved his arm slowly up and the cultist's body responded by being lifted into the air suspended by Jaden's force grip. Jaden's eyebrows narrowed and began to fold the cultist's body forwards, the cultist tried to cry out but Jaden would have none of it. In a few moments there was an audible crack from the cultist's body, and Jaden tossed the heap of bones and flesh into the bubbling lava below, he shut his sabers off and clipped them to his belt.

Jaden thought he should feel some sort of remorse for the fact he just killed a man in cold blood, but he didn't he found he actually enjoyed it and promised himself to research this new force technique he discovered through anger and a small amount of fear. Regardless he entered the main facility only to be met by someone he did not expect. Standing on the balcony that overlooked the entrance was none other then Alora, Tavion's more accomplished apprentice, he had almost forgotten her appearance, she reminded him so much of his Jai'ir that all his anger and frustrations left him. However once he realized who it was, anger came back and he shouted out to her.

"Where is ROSH?" Jaden's voice was vengeful and angry he ignited his purple and blue sabers and almost growled.

"Ahh, Kyle's good student, it's a pity poor Rosh wasn't able to fulfil our requirements for him, we should have turned you instead, but if we tried now I don't think we would have to much trouble ha ha ha." Alora laughed.

"WHERE IS HE?" Jaden shouted in full anger.

"Oh he's around but best find him before we do or you'll be cleaning up his body from all over this factory!" Alora said and pressed a button from behind her back and there was a loud bang and the roof began to crumble down towards Jaden.

Jai'ir and an incapacitated Dax were behind the sarcophagus in the main burial room, Jai'ir's allies had lost another of their team Alek was in cover behind a pillar, Nylice was at close to the entry door laying prone as to make himself less of a target aiming down his rifle and slowly picking off imperials till there was only five left, Alek took out two, Nylice another and the other Mandalorians had fell before they died, it was the four of them, (Alek, Nylice, Jai'ir and Dax) against three imperials, they had the upper hand but since Dax was still out of commission, it was a three on three fire fight. Jai'ir stuck her head out from behind the sarcophagus; she had a clear shot on two of them. She aimed, took a deep breath and fired a bolt from behind cover; it hit the imperial square in the side of the head. There was a crimson splatter and then the body went limp and crumpled down to the ground. She had one bolt left, the imperials were now down to two, but she no longer had a clear shot, neither did Alek, Nylice was able to down one more but Alek was hit in the shoulder and slouched behind the pillars, Nylice rushed to his side and tended to his commander. One imperial one unconscious ally and one wounded and unable to fight, and one was tending to him. It was down to Jai'ir and this last imperial officer but she had lost sight of her target, all of a sudden, she heard a deafening cry from directly behind her, she turned and was met with the sight of an imperial going in for the kill on her but was stopped in mid motion due to Dax's hand sticking a knife into his stomach causing him to fall backwards. Jai'ir was speechless; Dax had just saved her, when she had come to save him.

"Well are you just going to sit there open mouthed or are you going to help me up Red." Dax said this to her noticing she hadn't moved for a few seconds after seeing the man who would have killed her be killed in front of her. Jai'ir shook her head, and helped Dax to his feet, he was far heavier then she remembered, that being said he was also much taller as well, but with enough struggle she helped him to his feet and placed his arm across her neck and shoulders, acting as a crutch in order to help him walk.

"Dax, what? How, how is this possible? After we left you on that landing pad, alone, how did you survive?" Jai'ir asked getting straight to the point.

"I became somewhat of a prize for Tavion, she must have seen how well I fought off her troops, she ceased their fire and made me an offer, and at that point you and Jaden had already disappeared into the atmosphere, so I did what I had to, to save myself. I Joined her, but had I known then that after I agreed she would have experimented and tortured me the way she did I would have gone down fighting before I would have joined her." Dax explained as the two of them made their way over to Alek (who after a bandage job and a drink of Mandalorian Ale looked better than before) and to Nylice who was sitting beside him. Together the four of them started towards the entrance of the temple.

As they approached the doors to the chamber the mandalorians went ahead but Jai'ir paused through the air she could hear a whisper unintelligible for the most part but she could have sworn she heard someone call her name, she turned and to her surprise across the chamber she saw a pale blue figure, transparent yet very defined it looked to be the figure of a woman. The woman stared at her for a moment a smile came across her clear face, and it raised a finger at her and pointed. At what, Jai'ir didn't know, but she stared back confused at what she was seeing. Then she felt someone tap her shoulder and she jumped, twisting her head in towards Alek who had just touched her shoulder. She nodded understanding that it was time to leave. She looked back at the place where the woman had been but she was gone. A chill went down her spine and she turned to leave, she could see the mandalorians waiting for her just ahead and she hurried to catch up to them. No one would prove this but as she left the woman she had seen reappeared and in the darkness of the chamber echoes of words could be heard.

"Finally a body worthy of my possession soon my precious we will be re united and then the galaxy will fall before us. Only then can there be peace for the Sith. The time has come." The words echoed through empty halls and chambers and as they made their way to the entrance the four people felt a gust of wind come over them and out the open entrance.

Jaden made his way deeper into the mining facility as he reached the main dumping chamber he heard the high-pitched annoyance of Alora's voice again. She was standing on the observation walkway above the vast pits of lava and machinery.

"My, my Jedi, you are persistent, best hurry though Rosh doesn't have long!" Alora lifted her hand and pointed towards Jaden, just then two of her followers hopped down landing on either side of the Jedi Knight, Taking notice of them Jaden took a deep breath, the two followers ignited their sabers, one had a twin bladed red saber and the other had two red sabers that looked to have unusually intricate hilt designs. The follower's faces were covered with masks and their burgundy armour was very light and mobile, making it easier for them to move. They started towards them, laughing and taunting him, but Jaden made no move to defend, he simply lowered his head and calmed his mind, slowed his breathing and waited for the precise moment to lash out. The hum of the sabers grew louder as the two followers approached him, though he wasn't looking he could see everything the one on the right was preparing for a quick horizontal strike and the one on the left moved for a flurry of spins and twirls before stabbing at Jaden. He saw it all and then the moment came, he jumped into the air, igniting his own two sabers and with a thought they sprung to life crackling and hissing, he made a quick move with his hand and all of a sudden the sabers were coated with blue arching bolts of lightning as well as the purple and green sabers themselves another moment passed and he shifted his body lifting the sabers above his head so that when he landed there would be a shockwave of power exploding from the sabers. Gravity took over his body and with the assistance of the force he propelled himself downwards to the space between the two followers. His sabers went straight through the metal walkway creating molten metal in the place of solid metal and at the same time a wave of lightning surrounded him and forced the two followers back into the pits of lava around the factory killing them, he saw Alora freeze and observe.

"Impressive Jedi, well done, I'd commend you for getting this far and wish you luck but it would do you no good at all. HA HA HA." Alora laughed trying to intimidate Jaden, but he would have none of it, the rage built in him as she laughed, knowing she was probably the one who kidnapped Rosh from Byss. For that alone she should pay, and dearly.

"ALORA!" Jaden screamed as she laughed. Then she was gone, one minute she was there and then she was gone, he needed to get to her and fast if he had any chance of saving Rosh, but then again, why should he, after all Rosh betrayed the order, he betrayed Master Luke and Master Kyle and he had betrayed Jaden. Was he really worth the effort to save him or would killing him be a better solution. These and numerous other thoughts bounced and tumbled around and through his mind. When his mind finally settled after a few moments, he realized he had made it to what must have been the water reserve for the facility. The one speck of water on the entire planet, and of course just as he thought she had guards, two of them planted right in the middle of the room. Did he care though, no, nothing would get in his way now he was going to make Alora pay for all the pain and trouble she had caused the Jedi order and more importantly him. A small smirk crept across Jaden's lips he was going to enjoy destroying these filth ridden, poor excuses for guards, he wasn't going to let anything come between him and what he wanted, his revenge on Alora.

He had made his way through the majority of the facility at this point and had made it to the storage bay, here he saw her again this time easily forty feet above him on a platform that led into a room, he could feel the outside air from the planet rushing into the bay, it was coming from behind where she was. She looked down at him and rushed backwards, an almost stunned face looking down. Jaden smirked and began leaping and jumping with the aid of the Force so that he would be able to catch her.

After a short time he managed to reach the platform she was on, as he did he saw that it opened into a bigger room that was actually a hanger bay, as at the far end of the room a large opening revealed the volcano ridden mountains of Taspir III. Ahead of him he saw Rosh, kneeling, hands bound on the metal platform that made up the floor of this bay.

"Jaden wait don't, it's a trap, please don't she'll kill you." He begged, as Jaden neared him, purple saber ignited and ready. From the rafters Jaden heard the shrill laughter of his target. Alora.

"My, my, you are a tenacious one aren't you, well done. I must say I am impressed, but then again, why did I ever doubt you?" Alora said, Jaden's eyes locked with hers, she was crouched on a railing near the top of a nearby cylindrical machine.

"What do you want Alora!" Jaden shouted upwards at her rage filling his blood, his breathing heavy, every fibre of his being resisting the urge to yank her smug face from the rail and eject her into the slowly dimming skies of the planets surface.

"Power. Power is what I desire, and oh, I can feel it in you as well, boiling just beneath the surface. With power like yours, you could be a god amongst men. Ah that intrigues you doesn't it I can feel it even from here, the desire to overcome your obstacles to return to one that is close to you. A Female, interesting, well I am pleased to tell you I can offer you that power. Join me and together we can destroy Tavion and bend the will of the galaxy to our whim. What say you?" Alora said, but in truth, Jaden had already tuned her out, as soon as she spoke of being a god, Jaden knew that it was a tactic to sway him to the dark side. As his eyes met Rosh's again, he recognized them, and they were the eyes of the old Rosh, the one he knew in training and the one he became friends with originally. He was terrified, Jaden moved so his face was but a few feet from Rosh's, his eyes fuelling with the flame of hate for the female just a few feet above him. Rosh spoke again.

"Jaden please, don't listen to her, remember what Kyle taught you, and remember, to not fuel your anger but to deal with it? Please" Rosh was begging now, it was a most amusing sight Jaden thought. Alora's voice cut the air again.

"Well make your choice Jedi, your teaching's or mine." As she said this she raised from her crouched position, to that of a standing one, arms at her sides, the hilt of her saber, clenched tightly, one in each hand waiting for Jaden's response.

In his mind Jaden, was at a crossroads, one way he knew was the right path, but the other way, he would get what he had wanted. Revenge. He raised and ignited his saber the purple blade humming and fizzing inches away from Rosh's throat.

"Yes, yes, strike him down, complete your revenge on him for what he did to you on Vjun, on Byss, what he did to your order. Kill him!" Alora shouted almost with glee.

It was so near but he knew that if this line was crossed he could never go back, now to him there were strong arguments made for each side, but his mind was made up the moment he first saw Alora. Almost without hesitation, he opened his mouth to speak but felt Kyle's voice in his head.

"Don't do it Jaden, your better than this, put away your saber, please, don't give in!" Kyle's voice pleaded with him. The choice, looming like a mountain over a valley on Jaden's mind, he couldn't think straight. Through it all though one feeling claimed victory over the others, one door that was open the widest beckoned to him like a moth to a flame. Revenge, he needed to kill Alora, but to truly kill her he needed to kill Tavion too. His mind decided, Kyle's voice fell away, the distant cry of NOO! Faded into the blackness of his thoughts. On the outside, Jaden's eyes narrowed. Looking into them Rosh saw the once emerald green iris morph into a dark yellow, he had turned. A look of utter loss washed over Rosh's face and Jaden knew, he knew what was about to happen. Without so much as a word of apology, Jaden drew his blade across Rosh Penin's throat. Killing him.

"Ahhahaa, yes, good, well done young one. Now come join me and together we can destroy Tavion and end her rule over us." Alora called out from her perch.

"Why?" Was his response, a puzzled look crossed Alora's face. Jaden seized the opportunity, with little to no effort, reached out with the force, and clenched his fist around her neck, lifting her from her perch. He pulled her body towards the metal ground, Alora resisted. Standing up on the metal flooring she dragged her wrist across her lips wiping a small drop of blood from her head hitting the ground.

"Well done, but your refusal means we are done here, come and die jedi!" She said spitting onto the ground with the last word. Her eyes locked with Jaden's and the hum of her two red sabers buzzed to life in her hands.


End file.
